Councillors heard from six people who wanted to make verbal submissions on the council's draft 2008-09 annual plan.
The council received about 50 written submissions from people in the Waitaki district, and about 40 of them dealt solely with the council's plan to contribute $37.5 million to the stadium.
Ratepayers in the Waitaki district, excluding most of the Waitaki Valley which is in the Canterbury region, will have to contribute to the stadium if the council decides to get involved.
Oamaru chiropractor Ron Sim told the hearings panel of Crs Duncan Butcher (chairman), Doug Brown, Louise Croot and David Shepherd that Waitaki residents should not have to pay towards the stadium.
That was supported by an "informal poll" Oamaru resident John Gregory carried out last weekend.
In his poll of 100 residents, 74 opposed regional rates being used to build the stadium, 71 were not satisfied with the way the regional council had consulted them, and 87 wanted a household referendum before a final decision was made.
Mr Sim said rugby, the major user of the stadium, had become a business and should be treated as such.
Ratepayers should not have to subsidise sport.
Waitaki Ratepayers and Concerned Citizens said the stadium was " a frivolous expense of no value to Waitaki ratepayers".
Secretary Peter Ellis said the regional council was saying it believed it should have the stadium as a status symbol, and Oamaru could not afford that.
The Waitaki District Council, represented by chief executive Michael Ross and deputy mayor Gary Kircher, urged the regional council to be fair if and when it decided how much Waitaki should pay.
The suggested rate for the Waitaki district did take into account the distance its residents were from the stadium.
But Cr Kircher said it also needed to take into account of the low average income of Waitaki's residents, the higher proportion of elderly people.
